Islamabad [Pakistan], December 28 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday criticised Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) election symbol, Pakistan-based ARY News reported.
Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, Shehbaz Sharif said that the ECP's decision on PTI's intra-party elections was based on facts and questioned the Peshawar High Court's verdict. He asked how the PHC could announce decisions on matters related to the whole nation.
His remarks come after the Peshawar High Court suspended the ECP's decision nullifying PTI's intra-party polls and restored the party's electoral symbol, 'bat'.
Shehbaz Sharif said that the relatives of the judge who announced the verdict are contesting the election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He stressed that the judge should have dissociated himself from the bench and that someone unbiased should have been included on the bench announcing the verdict.
He welcomed the newcomers to the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) and said that people in large numbers are joining the party from Sindh. He criticised the previous PTI government and Imran Khan, saying that they isolated Pakistan and their ties with friendly nations were also damaged.
Praising the PML-N-led government, he said their government brought Pakistan back on track in 16-month tenure and rescued Pakistan from default. Earlier in the day, Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Karachi to hold meetings. He is due to hold meetings with the leaders of the Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pir Pagara in Sindh, ARY News reported.
Earlier this week, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) restored its election symbol 'bat' by suspending the order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had called its intra-party polls "illegal," Geo News reported.
The court said that the party's election symbol will be restored in a final decision on the petition, adding that a double bench will hear the matter after winter vacations.
Earlier, Peshawar High Court's Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel remarked that the ECP would have to allot the electoral symbol to PTI as it can't be revoked after the issuance of the election schedule.
Reacting to the verdict, Imran Khan's party PTI posted on X (formerly Twitter), "Hit the bat, embrace freedom!" PTI filed the petition after a five-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja declared PTI's intra-party elections unlawful and stripped the party of its symbol, Geo News reported.
The party named the ECP and those who challenged the elections as respondents, requesting the court for an urgent hearing of the matter, after which the court took up the plea on Tuesday.
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